nexus_sages | (no subject)

Jim frowns, giving her a slightly puzzled look. "Pirates with cloning technology? What do they use it for?"

Filling out their ranks. Most of them are speed-grown clones with a neural net imprinting their brains while they ripen. It's one of the lynchpins of their aggressive stance--they can afford high attrition rates because there's a fresh platoon just waiting to decant.

Well that has some disturbing implications. Jim shakes his head slightly. "Small wonder you want to get to the heart of the whole thing."

*The future is, in some respects, kind of terrifying.*

Exactly.

"Nobody'd better give the Klingons that idea, or everyone's going to be in deep trouble. I don't know how that'd fit in the whole code-of-honor thing but they might like the idea too much to care."

He can see the bar up ahead a ways, so at least he remembered the right way to go.

Is the technology to bioengineer, force-grow, and cybernetically augment industrial quantities of clones available in your Facet?

*She glances ahead to the bar, then accords Jim an approving nod.*

Well done. Klingons?

"Not in Federation territory, but that's because that kind of tech was banned by law three hundred years ago." Jim takes a moment to decide if he wants to share, but fuck it, she's gonna find out anyway. "That terrorist I mentioned was one of the reasons why genetic engineering got outlawed. He was in cryosleep with seventy-two others, and the only mercy is that we only had to deal with one of them."

Explaining about Klingons is at least a little more emotionally distant, despite the role they played in Khan's initial capture. Besides, she might need to know about them, in case her search for Kodos leads her into their territory. "Big tough humanoids with ridged foreheads. They're really into the blood and honor thing, but they've gotta have scientists or they never would've invented spaceships let alone warp drive. They're not exactly friendly towards the Federation."

This terrorist, do you think he was a terrorist because he was genetically modified?

*She'll get the door; Jim is clearly nursing injuries, and she's not completely without mercy.*

In my experience, people with a sense of honor can usually be reasoned with, it's just a matter of understanding how their honor is defined.

Jim shakes his head. "Not exactly... I mean yeah, he was designed to be a supersoldier and decided not to take orders from 'lesser' beings, but it was his own choices that put him where he ended up, going all the way back to the Eugenics Wars. If whoever made him could've programmed him to be a terrorist, you'd think they'd make it so he couldn't rebel either."

He nods in thanks at her getting the door for him. He could likely manage it himself, but less reasons to aggravate his aches and pains is appreciated.

"Probably true," he agrees, picking out a seat at an actual table this time, so he can have a chair with a back to lean against. "There's a lotta bad blood between us so far. Neither side's been really excited about trying to settle things, with the Neutral Zone supposedly keeping us out of each other's space, but there are incursions sometimes. On both sides."

"Eugenics Wars?" That sounds like a pile of bad ideas--I won't even dignify it with the term "stack."

*She takes a seat as well, flashing a quick look to the bartender--the being brings them a glowing blue bottle and a pair of tumblers and retreats out of earshot.*

That sort of thing's better sorted sooner than later. Left to fester, every little thing turns into a major incident--but that's an outsider's opinion, and one with only the bare bones at that.

Jim can absolutely agree with her sentiments about one of the worst wars in Earth's history. And really, enough said about that.

He's also only mildly surprised that the waitstaff here knew exactly what to bring without Samus saying anything. Either she's enough of a regular that they don't need to ask, or the barkeep has a good enough memory to recall their last visit. Which wasn't terribly long ago, to be fair. Either way, he pours himself a bit of the glowing brandy and slides the bottle across the table to her.

"It's an outsider's opinion, but it's not wrong," he agrees, taking a sip from his tumbler. "I'm not innocent in this either."

*Some places in the Nexus excel at customer service, and Samus has the advantage of being distinctive in almost any company. She pours herself a generous measure and takes a sip.*

You did something to these Klingons?

*She'll let them settle in, probe around this Klingon subject while the Gavan brandy does its work. She'll approach the more sensitive topics once he's more emotionally limber.*

Jim nods a little, wishing that recent events weren't part of this topic, too. "Had to cross the Neutral Zone in pursuit of the terrorist. Got caught by a patrol on the Klingon homeworld. We did try to negotiate, but it was already going south somehow before Khan popped up and blasted them all away." He shakes his head. "As far as I know, Starfleet hasn't been directly linked with any of it, but I'm still responsible."

*She considers that, sipping again at her drink, studying the contents of her glass thoughtfully.*

Tell me more about these Klingons. How does their system of honor operate?

"I'm not an expert," he says apologetically, "but from what I understand, honor's pretty much everything to a Klingon. Glory in battle's a big part of it. They don't take prisoners and they'll kill themselves if captured, but if you beat 'em fairly and prove you're stronger, they don't mind retreating. They might hate your guts but they'll respect you as a fellow warrior or whatever, and then it's more exciting to get to fight you."

They don't take prisoners?

*She tsks quietly.*

That's a problem. Not insurmountable, but I'd suggest learning their ways more fully in a hurry, since apparently pre-battle negotiations are the only kind on the table. I take it "fairly" can be a bit of a sticking point as well?

Jim nods, and takes a deeper drink from his glass. "Ambushes are kinda borderline. Anything where you win because of 'trickery,' like playing dead to lure in an opponent, is pretty bad. So's breaking any agreed-on rules of battle, like if you promise to beam over to their ship for an honor duel or something and send over a bomb instead. The good news is, they do have rules about ritual combat, and losing one of those doesn't mean you're weak as long as you put up a good fight."

Let me guess--the border is whether you're ambushing them or they're ambushing you?

*Her tone is wry. So far, these Klingons sound a little interesting, but not especially impressive, as far as allegedly honor-centric warrior cultures go.*

It sounds like it's important to get the rules of engagement clear before things start, then.

He makes a so-so gesture with one hand, tilting it back and forth. "Kinda. It's definitely not okay when we do it, obviously, but they don't usually do it either. I guess they like looking their enemies in the face or something."

And of course he nods in agreement with her conclusion. "That'd be easier if they'd actually talk to us, but the ones willing to chat aren't usually the ones taking potshots at us. Probably doesn't help that diplomacy comes across like false appeasement to 'em, but the Federation's kinda skittish of trying to do a show of force in case it pisses them off."

You shouldn't find the idea so foreign. There have been cultures on your own planet where a shout of warning a fraction of a second before a killing blow was considered adequate warning to distinguish honorable combat from cowardly assault.

*She gives another critical tsk, this time directed at the Federation.*

That's going to hurt them. I'd wager my next skin that an honest show of force would garner more respect from these Klingons than any other approach.

Jim looks at least a little contemplative of that. "That makes a lot of sense. Not a hell of a lot of warning, but I know that's the human perspective. Contemporary human, I mean."

He is in absolute agreement with her second statement, as well. "Yeah, I definitely don't think you're wrong there either. It's not fair for us to expect them to go by our rules when we're not trying to go by theirs, or meet halfway."

What's the contemporary human perspective on how to approach a fight? From a contemporary human.

*His agreement gets a nod.*

They're looking at you, trying to determine if you--singly and as a government--are honorable, trustworthy, and whether you'll be an enemy or a respectable rival. Most honor-centric cultures founded on warrior traditions place the greatest emphasis on actions, rather than words or intentions. Really, your government ought to have some diplomats who know this, it's fairly basic theory.

"Depends," Jim answers, "on whether or not it's the first encounter. If it is, fighting should be last resort or self-defense. Talk it through and make peace first, if possible. If it's war, then it depends on the circumstances. We haven't had any kind of real war in my lifetime and I hope we never do."

He nods along with her analysis, sipping from his drink. Even though the current topic is one that could very well have real world consequences sometime soon, he can find a little solace in the academics of it all. "They probably do. I'm not a diplomat but I'd be surprised if internal politics isn't the problem."

"I hope we never do" is the wrong attitude to keep you out of a war. That's a Warrior of the Chozo telling you that. My people knew peace for so long most historians assume they were pacifists.

*If Jim is paying close attention, he might think to wonder what record was left of the Chozo's enemies, to challenge or support that supposition.*

Internal politics? Your government is arguing with itself about an appropriate stance on foreign relations?

Jim frowns a little, giving her a puzzled look. "Hoping there isn't a war and being prepared anyway aren't mutually exclusive, are they?" Otherwise he can't see why she'd have a problem with that. "What's the Chozo take on it?"

He hesitates before he answers her other question, considering his words carefully. The fact that Admiral Marcus was the root cause of Khan's rampage is classified, and while that probably means little here, he feels duty-bound not to reveal privileged information regardless of the circumstances. Still, there's ways he can get around it without betraying his oath. "There are... those in the Federation who think that the Klingons are little better than animals and that war's inevitable," he says slowly, carefully. "It's very possible that someone like that in a position of power might want to provoke a war on purpose to have an excuse to wipe them out. But like I said, I'm not a diplomat, so I don't know for sure."